


one dream at a time

by dreadwyrmspawn



Series: FFXIV Write 2020: Tales of Starlight and Moonbeams [6]
Category: Final Fantasy XIV
Genre: Anxiety, Cuddling, Depression, Established Relationship, Insomnia, M/M, Male Miqo'te (Final Fantasy XIV), Miqo'te (Final Fantasy XIV), Miqo'te Warrior of Light (Final Fantasy XIV), Pre-Canon, Seventh Umbral Calamity, Seventh Umbral Era, Sleep Aid, Tumblr: FFXIVwrite2020
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-18
Updated: 2020-09-18
Packaged: 2021-03-08 04:33:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 613
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26519818
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dreadwyrmspawn/pseuds/dreadwyrmspawn
Summary: It had been days since Fox last slept, his calamity-triggered insomnia refusing to relent. Then Thancred came home.
Relationships: Warrior of Light/Thancred Waters
Series: FFXIV Write 2020: Tales of Starlight and Moonbeams [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1906423
Comments: 4
Kudos: 11





	one dream at a time

**Author's Note:**

> _so we'll fade away together,_  
>  _one dream at a time._  
> 
> 
> _  
>  ___  
> 
> 
> _FFXIVWrite2020 Day 17: Fade_

The days had started to run together again, dropped off by the passage of time with no promise of sleep. As Fox finished off his umteenth garment he wasn’t even sure he was alive. But then again, that would have meant he broke his promise; and he could not do that.

So he pushed himself from his work station and toward the door. He stumbled over a few bolts of fabric before spilling out into the shared living space.

Eyes blinked blearily as he took in his surroundings. R’hiyo had her nose buried in a book, ignoring him— probably on purpose. And Thancred was stretched out on the sofa already asleep for the night.

He walked over to the sofa and nudged the slumbering traveler. The only response he received was a grunt and cold shoulder.

“Thaancred,” Fox whined, sounding every bit like the spoiled brat that he was when overtired, “it’s time for bed.”

“Then go to bed.”

Fox huffed, “stop being mean.”

He would later swear there was an audible roll of his sister’s eyes from behind her tome.

“I am not the one waking people up in the middle of the night,” Thancred argued, but rose from the sofa all the same. He took Fox’s hand, leading him back to the bedroom.

Their clothes left a haphazard trail from the door to the bed. On the nightstand empty sleeping potion bottles were discarded. Thancred sighed when he saw them.

“You are going to become dependent on those, you know,” he said as he laid down on the top sheet.

“Thanks, Hiyo,” Fox said with a roll of his eyes as he fished a full bottle from inside the drawer. He popped the cork, but Thancred reached out to still his movements. 

“Come here,” Thancred said in hushed tones. Fox grit his teeth in response; the bed feeling toxic to him without the drug’s aid.

“No.” Came out short and pained, a quiet fear settling on his face, “I won’t sleep,” he admitted.

He already hadn’t. It had been days.

Thancred had shown up earlier in the day and of course he wanted to go to sleep next to his boyfriend. But without the potion he knew it would be impossible. A tired mind sinking endlessly into the darkness that filled his head since the calamity.

A small tremor shook him as the panic sunk deeper.

“Hey,” Thancred’s voice was soft as he shuffled out of the bed. He took a stunned Fox in his hands, leading him to the sofa on the opposite wall. He pulled Fox to sit on the sofa, and then to lean into him.

Fox curled into Thancred’s side, his gaze fixed on the still open bedside drawer. There was an itch that crawled under his skin, begging him to return to the drawer, but Thancred held fast. The tight grip anchoring him to reality by the most fragile silk threads.

“Come on, now,” Thancred’s voice remained calm as he reached across his body to scratch at the soft spots behind Fox’s ear. Another life line held him fast to the sofa, his muscles melting and giving in. When Thancred’s other hand found the base of his tail Fox reflexively arched into the skilled ministrations. 

Thancred’s strong arms across his body squeezed the anxiety out. The void inside him quickly filled with a wave of honest sleepiness. Heavy eyelids slipped shut as his head tilted back into the touch. A soft sigh broke over his lips as Thancred delivered him to dreamland without the drug’s aid.

The next goal, it seemed, would be to get Thancred to stay in Ul’dah. But that could wait until morning.


End file.
